Chaparral Pines Residents Call Payson Home

As residents of Chaparral Pines, we feel compelled to reply to some of the articles and letters that have appeared maligning Chaparral Pines and the people who live there.

Lanny and Jerry Floyd were correct in their assessment of what Chaparral Pines provides in the Town of Payson. The property taxes go a long way to help the Town of Payson, including the school system (Payson Roundup, Sept. 7, 1999). There are very few children living in Chaparral Pines that attend school, but the residents are happy to contribute what they can to help keep the school system healthy and viable. The Payson High School Golf Team uses Chaparral's Course, and the team coaches are Chaparral Pine members.

Residents of Chaparral Pines have given a large number of monetary donations over the past several years to many churches and charitable organizations in Payson, including thousands of dollars given to the fire department, which allowed them to complete the fire line that is now protecting the southern end of all of Payson, and a Chaparral Pines family gave a large donation to help build the new public library (Payson Roundup July 3, 2000).

Green Valley Park was given to the Town of Payson as a result of a land exchange between the Forest Service and Chaparral Pines (Payson Roundup, Aug. 28, 2001). Many citizens of Payson enjoy this park and recreation area, and anyone who watched the helicopters collecting water from the park's lakes knows that they were instrumental in fighting the Willow Fire which came perilously close to Payson, Pine and Strawberry.

Many residents of Chaparral Pines do countless hours of volunteer work in the community. We personally know people who serve many organizations that have benefited by volunteer work by residents of Chaparral Pines. Among those are: local churches, Chamber of Commerce, Payson Community Kids, Family Literacy, Elks Club, St. Vincent de Paul Food Bank, Rotary Club, CASA, Big Brother and Big Sisters, Payson Public Library, Payson Museum, Substitute teachers, Habitat for Humanity, Payson Humane Society, Rodeo Committee, Choral Society, Hospice, Tonto Search and Rescue Squad, AARP tax aid and the Payson Art League. We apologize if we have missed anyone.

We are proud to call Payson our home, and we will continue to be supporting members of the community.

Terry and BJ Nelson, Bill and Brenda Day, John and Charlotte Petrusha, Payson